Probe-card interposers, also referred to herein as “interposers,” are used as a component of an electronic testing system, also referred to herein as a “tester.” The tester and interposer may be used for electrical testing of integrated circuits and/or integrated circuit devices. In general, the tester may generate a plurality of test signals that are routed through an interposer to specific contact points on integrated circuits or integrated devices. There may be an adapter, also referred to herein as a “translator,” between the interposer and circuits or devices under test. The adapter may provide a spatial mapping for signal paths on the interposer to a distribution of probes on the translator that align to the contact points specific to the devices or circuits under test. An interposer can provide a separable connection between the tester and translator, so that different translators may be used on the testing system with different circuit and device layouts.
In semiconductor manufacturing, it is generally economically advantageous to parallelize manufacturing steps for as many devices and/or circuits as possible. Accordingly, a reduction in device size and increase in wafer size beneficially results in a greater number of devices being produced with each manufacturing step. This can, however, place greater demands on the manufacturing equipment. In this regard for a tester, smaller devices can require a higher density of probes and probe circuitry in a fixed area and increase demands on alignment of probes to contact points. Large test areas may require the handling and management of a large number of signals in the tester. Reductions in device size and increase in wafer size can require interposers of larger size capable of handling a large number of test signals from the tester and response signals from the devices and circuits under test.